A Tale of Cast Iron (Recipe: Skillet Roasted Pork Chops)

I love cooking with cast iron. I love pork chops. I love cooking pork chops in cast iron. And when the pork chops cooked in cast iron turn out in a spectacular, moist, tender fashion, a fairy tale is born. Let me tell you ’bout the fairy tale I just birthed. I should also tell you that same fairy tale got eaten shortly after it got birthed.

Pork chops can either be delectable or garbage can worthy. There’s no in-between. Some cuts are so lean they wind up being dry as a bone when cooked. Brining helps and I do that for all my pork roasts. For smaller pieces, like the aforementioned fairy tale pork chops, season well in advance of cooking and let salt work its magic to start breaking down tissue and getting the molecules to behave properly and play nice with juices.

The list of ingredients for this mind-altering experience is impressive. And short. There’s two. One. Two.

The method by which I prepared the chops today is gumdrops, candy canes, rainbows and Leprechauns. It’s the best of the best. Rogers and Hammerstein should write a song about the pork chops that came out of my kitchen. Cast iron skillet met pork chops and the result made us sing….with our mouths full. The chops were flavorful, tender and moist. Easy as pie preparation is an added bonus, too. Don’t let the big, Fred Flintstone type knife shown in the picture scare you. The chops are tender enough to eat with a fork.

I must run now and get the Unicorn out of the kitchen….. again.

Y’all come see us!

Skillet Roasted Pork Chops

yield: 3 to 4 servings

Choose bone-in chops cut from the rib section. Season with seasoned salt at least one hour prior to cooking. Longer is even better. Bring the chops to room temperature prior to cooking.

3 to 4 (1 inch thick) bone-in pork chops

seasoned salt (I prefer Morton’s Season-all seasoned salt and list it as one of my Favorites.)

Season both sides of chops with seasoned salt at least one hour prior to cooking.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat well-seasoned iron skillet. When screaming hot, place in chops in a single layer. Sear for about three minutes on one side or until the chops take on a gorgeous brown color. Turn the chops when brown, cover the skillet and place in preheated oven. Roast for one hour. Remove from oven, leave covered and let sit for 10 minutes.

Eat them all and then write to me and tell me about the fairy tale you created.

Choose bone-in chops cut from the rib section. Season with seasoned salt at least one hour prior to cooking. Longer is even better. Bring the chops to room temperature prior to cooking.

3 to 4 (1 inch thick) bone-in pork chops

seasoned salt (I prefer Morton’s Season-all seasoned salt and list it as one of my Favorites.)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Season both sides of chops with seasoned salt at least one hour prior to cooking.

Heat well-seasoned iron skillet. When screaming hot, place in chops in a single layer. Sear for about three minutes on one side or until the chops take on a gorgeous brown color. Turn the chops when brown, cover the skillet and place in preheated oven. Roast for one hour. Remove from oven, leave covered and let sit for 10 minutes.

These pork chops look amazing! Next time I will try seasoning the chops for 2 hours before cooking and bringing them to room temperature. I have never done that. Thank you for the tips and Happy New Year!

Yes, anything cooked in an iron skillet, griddle or dutch oven will be better than any other method. I was lucky enough to inherit my mother’s iron cookware plus my grandmother’s dutch oven and feel like they are in the room with me whenever I use them. After many years of use by herself then me, the 12-inch skillet was hopelessly crudded on the outside. I had to resort to using my brother-in-law’s fire pit to burn it off. Of course it also burned off the seasoning INSIDE the skillet as well, so there I was, having to season it all over again. I could hear my mother chastising me for letting it get in that condition to begin with. Isn’t that the way, hearing the voices of our loved ones years later when we mess up? But we know it’s a good-natured fussing ’cause we can also still feel the hugs we would get afterwards. Oh, the memories of hand-me-downs!

You’re right about the either/or when it comes to pork chops. I notice that yours are bone-in (which is very important). And I’m guessing they were fairly thick, another key. — Thank you for posting this simple, yet delicious recipe.

These sound scrumptious! I want to make these today and I so hope you will have a moment to answer my question because I want to have fairy tale chops too. I have the Morton’s Season All on hand but it is the 25% less sodium version. Will this work or do I need to wait until I have the regular type? I thought maybe it wouldn’t have the needed salt to work the magic. Thanks so much. I love your blog!!!

Lets talk about how fabbbbulous these chops are! My husband scraped the plate and asked me to always cook chops this way! I used an all purpose seasoned salt from our vendor at the local farmers market. During the rest period, i topped them with a slice of butter. Served with pimento white cheddar Mac and cheese and pan roasted broccoli.. Perfect, perfect, perfect! We had this on a casual, snowy Wednesday night, but these come highly recommended for guests, as most of the cooking is in the oven so you can actually hang out.

I have always used a cast iron griddle until recently when we purchased a glass top stove. The manufacturer warns against using cast iron on the glass-top. I almost threw out my griddle. However, I am going to try heating the skillet in the over at 500 for 30 minutes so that it is really hot and see if I can seer the meat that way. Then lower the temperature and roast as you have suggested. I am hoping that this will work! I just hate not being able to use my Cast iron!!!! Pork chops and white gravy is our favorite! Will be trying this tonight! Thanks for posting your recipe!

I use cast iron on my glass top stove all the time. The manufacturers recommend against using it because some of the pieces of cast iron have sharp edges as opposed to smooth or rounded. I’m very careful to pick it up and not scoot it across the surface. I’ve found a cast iron users group on FB and posed the question to them regarding the use of cast iron on glass top cook surfaces. 100% of them use it following the same precautions I stated. Just giving you some “food for thought”.

Thank you Jackie! I did seer my chops in the oven and it turned out very good and moist. My preference, however, is to use the stove-top. I will just have to be extra careful not to slide it like you suggested. So happy to know that I don’t have to give up my cast iron skillets! Yay!!!! The sales guys told me that he thought the cast iron might get too hot and cause the glass to crack. Since you haven’t had any problems, nor that cast iron users group, he probably didn’t know what he was talking about. You just made my day! Thank You!!!

I found a cast iron user’s group on Facebook. They have lots of discussion about that issue. The vast majority of them who have glass top stoves, cook with cast iron and have been doing so for years. They are careful to lift their cast iron and not slide it across the top. It’s a personal decision. I use cast iron on my glass top.

I love me some pork chops and have been making them for about 27 years and the ones that I made according to your recipe are the best that I have ever made. Thanks lots man for the Epic Chops that i made last night.

Made these for my family today. They were super easy & good! Thank you for posting the recipe!! I made fried honeycrisp apples, and stewed tomatoes with okra & corn to go with. My family loved all.of it.

Just cover it well with aluminum foil. I have a smaller skillet that doesn’t have a lid that fits. I cover it with aluminum foil and then put a heavy baking sheet on top. The baking sheet isn’t really necessary. You could get by just fine without it.

A bone conducts heat which could make the meat cook faster. However, all ovens cook at different rates. If your chop is about the same thickness as the ones in the recipe, plan on cooking for the same amount of time and check it 10 minutes early.

I’m sure this is a really stupid question… can you buy lids for cast iron skillets? My skillet didn’t come with one so I’m going to try this recipe and just use a lid from one of my other “regular” skillets. Does it make a difference if I use a regular lid or a cast iron one? (I feel so stupid asking this!)

A question is never stupid. Yes, there are lids that fit cast iron pans. The same lid fits my 12 inch skillet and my cast iron Dutch oven. You can use any kid you can find. It doesn’t make a difference. The main thing is to have the vessel made from cast iron.

My cast iron skillets are very well seasoned. I never have a problem with food sticking. If your skillet is properly seasoned and you get it very hot before adding the chops, they’re shouldn’t be a problem. If you’re unsure, add a some oil before adding the chops.

Seasoning a cast iron pan means keeping a thin coat of fat on it at all time, either oil, shortening or bacon grease. The fat seeps into the cast iron and creates a non-stick coating. There’s lots of information on the Internet. Just google “seasoning cast iron”.

I make skillet fried pork chops often, but just recently got a set of cast iron skillets, so I’m making this tonight. I happened to have bone-in chops, happened to have just gotten cast iron skillets and just happened upon your recipe! It’s fate! First time ever using cast iron! I’m such a novice, but am excited to try this recipe. I already had a little trouble – they browned a little too quickly and burned the edges before the 3 minutes were up! So now I know how hot cast iron gets! I did get pre-seasoned pans, but I know I need to build up a better seasoning, so hopefully with more use, it’ll get better and better. (I did use a little oil in the pan just to be sure and it was “screaming hot” – I also am not sure my chops were quite room temperature – a little too cold maybe.) Anyway, I’m sure they’ll be yummy and this’ll be a go to recipe in the future! We love pork chops and have them quite often here!

The hardest adjustment to cooking with cast iron is the cooking heat. Cast iron heats up quickly and retains heat so you do need to cook on heat that’s lower than you’re used to. Keep plugging away! I hope you come to love cast iron as much as I do.

I fixed this last night for dinner. I must say it was really great. I don’t brag on my food, but I will with this recipe. The only difference I did was to brush each side with Kitchen Bouquet along with the seasoning salt. Thanks for the great recipe. I will be using this often…